Dreams of Saturday Night: Meat Beat Manifesto

I really think that 1988 was indeed a musical year that tore down many barriers. The explosion (and implosion) of Hip Hop and Acid House brought new and radical sounds and the public was more than ready to listen while dancing their asses off.

Mark Stewart and the Mafia, Public Enemy and Meat Beat Manifesto were working at the edges of music with their brutal methods of decomposing sound and rhythm.


Give Your Body It´s Freedom! is the most radical version of Meat Beat Manifesto´s third single "Strap Down".

Everything in this track is designed to jump in your face: the stupendous bassline, the insane whistles, adventurous drum-programming and a harsh mix make this an adrenaline rushing disco-destroyer that sounds like a work-out program for malfunctioning robots. After listening to this at maximum volume you feel exhausted.

I was eagerly awaiting MBFs first album which was then lost in a studio fire. The re-recorded album was actually a double-12" with four songs in four versions. While "Storm the Studio" was very good, it lacked the energy and boldness of tracks like this one.

As true forefathers of Prodigy and Chemical Brothers, the band released a new album in 2008.